M2:3341 — کی پسندد عدل و لطف کردگار / که گلی سجده کند در پیش خار

This couplet comes in a section where Rumi is discussing the hierarchy of souls and the nature of prostration (sajda). He has just explained that Adam's soul was greater than that of the angels, which is why the angels were commanded to prostrate before Adam. This act of prostration, in Rumi's view, signifies the recognition of a superior spiritual essence. Had Adam's soul not been greater, such a command would have been inappropriate and unjust.

Here, Rumi uses the vivid metaphor of a 'rose' and a 'thorn' to illustrate this point. The 'rose' symbolizes beauty, perfection, and superiority, while the 'thorn' represents inferiority and lack. The idea is that it would be fundamentally against the divine order, against God's 'justice and grace' (ʿadl o luṭf-e kerdegār), for something inherently superior to humble itself before something inferior. This reinforces the idea that true prostration is an acknowledgment of higher spiritual rank, a principle upheld by divine wisdom and benevolence.